Water for Haiti Update

Here is an email we received from the northwest bottled water association




Hello Everyone!


I wanted to share our exciting news with you. NWBWA and you are doing great things as an association. Thank you to all of you that have contributed to the Water for Haiti project. I'm please to inform you that our first truck load shipped last week and is on its way to Haiti. Our first load was produced by Idaho Ice in Moscow, Idaho. Kevin Espy and his team, along with owner Jim Schwartz, not only donated their spring water, but donated their time and labor to make this project happen. I have been working closely with Jim Connelly, our Vice President. We are partnering with Convoy of Hope - an organization that is well established and was already on the ground in Haiti long before this horrific earthquake. They have been feeding up to 11,000 children per day to make sure they get at least one meal of food and water each day. Their warehouse in Haiti was away from the epicenter and virtually untouched by this quake. With the need for food and water at a catastrophic level, our timing could not be better. Convoy of Hope is covering all transportation of the product to Haiti. Our first load is approximately 20,000 liter bottles. Our supplier members have been a key part of our success. This first truckload of raw materials was totally donated: bottles, caps, labels and boxes. With his special donation we now have funding from our members, that will allow us to move forward. Paul Fischer, General Manager of Mountain Mist in Tacoma, Washington, has also stepped up for our cause and is donating Mountain Mist artesian well water and all the labor to send out our second load. Paul's suppliers are helping defer some of the cost with raw material donations as well. Idaho Ice is going out on a limb and producing a third load. Our hope, as an association, is that our members will continue to help with this project. Please, if you can, send your donation to NWBWA, marked for Water to Haiti project. Last week I traveled to Moscow, Idaho with Jim Connelly to meet with the media. Our interview will air in the northwest market, promoting our efforts in Haiti. We are working on other ways to raise funds. Some of our bottlers are asking their customers for support, while others have their employees working together to raise funds to keep helping this cause. The people of Haiti will need support for many years to help rebuild what has been taken away by this event. Thank you again for your support and helping us at NWBWA to make a difference in the world we live in.



Sincerely,

Tim Dougherty

Executive Director

Northwest Bottled Water Association